Spinal pain can be divided into short term (acute recent onset) and long term (chronic). Treatment varies according to the type of pain you’re experiencing. Short-term pain is best managed by remaining active, rather than resting, according to specialist pain management physician Dr Simon Tame, from Northern Integrated Pain Management (NIPM). “Simple pain killers (anti-inflammatories or paracetamol) can be used providing they are effective. Stronger pain killers should be avoided. “Education and reassurance about low back pain is very important. Patients need to know the problem is quite likely to resolve, and rarely dangerous.” Long-term (chronic) spinal pain is a more complex problem. “People who experience long-term pain often develop associated problems such as depression, poor sleep, weight gain, and disability related to pain,” Dr Tame said. “In any long-term pain the way the brain processes pain changes, essentially making the pain-processing system more sensitive, and the problem more entrenched. These various problems associated with long-term pain all feed into each other. “In this case, a multi-disciplinary treatment that addresses psychological, physical and social factors is the best approach.” Multidisciplinary treatment can involve practitioners such as physical therapists, psychologists, nurses and doctors with a focus on things like physical